Following the North American Poker Tour stop at Mohegan Sun, players had to choose their path for the coming weeks. Some, like NAPT high-roller champion Jason Mercier and Team PokerStars' Barry Greenstein, opted to go abroad and hit up EPT San Remo. Others headed back to Las Vegas to be in town for the Venetian Deep Stacks and the Bellagio's Five Star World Poker Classic. If a flight wasn't in the immediate plans, players drove to Atlantic City to play in the Borgata Spring Poker Open which featured a $7,500 "East Coast Championship."

Among the notables in the 62-player field were Gavin Smith, Sorel Mizzi, Lee Markholt, Dwyte Pilgrim, Matt Glantz, Todd Terry, Cliff Josephy, Matt Brady and Phil Collins. After Day 1, Smith held the chip lead over Mizzi, but as the field dwindled and the final nine had their seats, Mizzi found himself in second place behind Dave Peters to enter the final day.

Mizzi's past six weeks have been filled with success. Entering the Borgata, he'd won three events, finished fifth in another and made the money (81st place) at NAPT Mohegan. He had just less than $1 million in live earnings in 2010 and by making the final table, he eclipsed that mark for the first time in his career. While Gavin Smith might have brought in the biggest name to the final table, industry insiders were wondering if Mizzi could continue his success with another big finish.

Shortly into play, there wasn't much to wonder as Mizzi was picking his spots well. Mizzi knocked out Markholt in ninth by rivering a straight against Markholt's pocket aces, then watched as Chris Klodnicki took out four of the next five players (Gavin Smith in eighth, Phil Collins in sixth, Miguel Borrero in fifth and Taha Maruf in fourth). Peters went out in third when Mizzi's jacks held against his fives, giving Mizzi a $1.2 million to $777,000 chip lead going into heads-up play. Klodnicki has had amazing success in Atlantic City over the past few months (WSOP Circuit champion and then fourth in another WSOP Circuit main event), but would fall short to Mizzi and earn $92,456.

"This is great. I played really well and am happy to survive," Mizzi said to the Borgata staff. "This was a tough, tough field."

Mizzi's win gives him another $170,313 and probably enough points to be the leader in the Player of the Year race for both CardPlayer and Bluff magazine.

Online sites introduce new features

After Full Tilt released "Rush Poker" a few months ago, the first reaction for most players was: "Wow." The second reaction was: "When is it going to come in a tournament form?"

Full Tilt Poker announced today that Rush Poker tournaments are finally here. No more waiting between hands once you fold; your tournament will continue the instant you opt out of the hand. The key item to note is that the site will now track your big and small blinds so that you aren't paying the blinds more than other players. As the tournament field size reduces down to fewer than 30 players, the number of players per table decreases, as well. Once the final table is reached, a standard final table of nine players ensues.

Besides the Rush tournaments, FTP also introduced steps that currently lead to a top prize of a WSOP package.

Over at PokerStars, the team there has also been busy developing knockout tournaments. "In Knockout tournaments, a cash 'bounty' is placed on every entrant in the tournament," wrote Simon Young on the PokerStars Blog. "Every time a player eliminates an opponent, they win a cash prize." PokerStars also now offers multievent satellites where winning can lead to an entry into one of the possible five target events.

PokerStars has implemented changes on the ring game side, as well. If a player sits out for five minutes in a ring game, they will now be removed from the table. Players can also now sit at a maximum of two heads-up tables while waiting for an opponent. The site has also introduced three varieties of ring games at most stakes where players can buy-in for different amounts.

Small blinds: The clause in the Massachusetts gaming bill outlawing online poker has been removed. … Annie Duke released an iPhone Poker App called the "Annie Duke Poker Tutor." … The National Heads-Up Poker Championship debuts on TV this Sunday at noon ET. … The NAPT debuts on ESPN2 on Monday at 10 p.m. ET … A network in Europe called "The Poker Channel" is launching a 24-hour poker network in France. … I still don't understand why the industry needs World Team Poker, but apparently it's going to begin on May 19 at the Golden Nugget. … Chau Giang won Jennifer Harman's charity tournament to benefit the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. By doing so, he takes home a WSOP main event seat. … The World Poker Tour introduced a new free poker application on Facebook. While it might be "free" the site will let you buy more chips. … I really enjoyed PokerNews' segment on poker pet peeves. Legitimate points while letting Allen Kessler complain.